Proliferation of Abnormal Cells in Fetal Organ-Cultured and Human Cataractous Eye Lenses

Abstract

Abnormal epithelioid, fibroblast-like, infiltrating, and bladder cell complexes of fetal swine organ-cultured lenses contained DNA-synthesizing cells, of which epithelioid and fibroblast-like cells proliferated. The same is supposed to be true for abnormal cells of human cataractous lenses.

Histological Differentiation in Fetal Organ-Cultured and Human Cataractous Eye Lenses

“…Sixty-three human cataractous lenses removed in operations were studied histologically as described earlier [5].…”

“…Normal fetal eye lenses in organ culture in vitro have been used to study the origin and proliferation of abnormal cells in lenses [5]. It can be supposed that the same method can be used to study fiber cell differentiation in cataractous lenses.…”

Eye Lens Tumors: An Experimental-Histological and Theoretical Approach

“…In experiments in vitro, however, in lens cultures similar to hu man and animal cataractous lens cell growths occur. Histological and histoautoradiographic studies of lenses at successive stages of culti vation made it possible to follow the origin, morphology, proliferation and senescence of abnormal lens cell complexes [9,10].…”

“…They are usually huge cells (0.06-0.15 mm in diame ter), with homogenous, fine-filamentous, coarse-granular or vacuolated eosinophilic cy toplasm. They synthesize DNA and divide mitotically at a low rate for a long period of time in vitro [10]. Bladder cells contain crystallins and the lens-specific membrane pro tein 26 kD [7,21].…”

“…The origin of abnor mal cells is the result of a disorder of normal lens cell differentiation [22][23][24], These are facts characteristic of tumor growth in gener al. Abnormal cells proliferate [10] and give All the figures are from sections of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded material; H&E staining; clefts in figures are artifacts. 138 Veromann Eye Lens Tumors rise to masses of abnormal cells in the lens, in the same way as tumor cells in other tissues do.…”